Suspended railways



Oct. 2, 1962 E. FEY 3,056,359

SUSPENDED RAILWAYS Filed Feb. 13, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet l 12 12 FIG.1

)NVENTUFF EDUAFID FEY ATTORNEYS 1962 E. FEY 3,056,359

SUSPENDED RAILWAYS Filed Feb. 13, 1961 4 SheetsSheet 2 f o o i FIG.4

i 19 13 c 72 O OJ I NV ENTOR E DUARD FEY ATTORNEYS Oct. 2, 1962 E. FEY 3,056,359

SUSPENDED RAILWAYS Filed Feb. 1s, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet s NVENTOR 32' EDUARD FEY ATTOFFN EYS Oct. 2, 1962 E. FEY 3,056,359

SUSPENDED RAILWAYS Filed Feb. 13, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 l 5K 3G" INVENTOR EDUARD FEY YWW A TTOHNEYS United States Patent Q My invention has for its object a suspended railway system comprising a guiding rail which is advantageously U-shaped for instance, and the flanges of which carry a carriage provided with rollers.

According to my invention, two carrier members are arranged on either side of the medial vertical plane of the guiding rail and are pivotally carried on the corresponding part of the carriage, on parallel axes while at least one of said members carries a friction roller and the other carrier member carries a corresponding counter-roller, the two rollers being urged towards the opposite sides of a longitudinal web extending outwardly with reference to the web of the guiding rail along the medial plane of the latter, the movement of the friction rollers towards said longitudinal web being provided through the action of springs engaging the carrier members whereby the carriage is caused to progress during operation through the frictional drive of the said rollers on the one hand, over the longitudinal web extending between said rollers on the other hand.

In a preferred embodiment of this arrangement, the guiding rail is provided at different points, say along sections having a slope, and on either side of the said longitudinal web, with an auxiliary flange extending laterally. On the other hand, the spindles of the abovementioned friction rollers carry auxiliary friction rollers of a smaller diameter which are adapted during the progression of the carriage along such sections to run over the auxiliary flanges so that the frictional drive between the friction rollers of a larger diameter and the said longitudinal web is cut out. The consequence thereof is that the carriage is thus urged forwardly by the smaller friction rollers and at a lower speed, but with a greater torque so that it is possible to negotiate slopes up to 90 under suitable conditions.

The present invention covers in particular a further very advantageous embodiment of such a suspended railway the object of which is a particularly easy horizontal transverse shifting of the vehicle on curves.

This result is obtained according to the invention by the fact that rocking arms are associated with the running rollers carrying the vehicle, which arms are provided with carrier pivots passing through the cross-members of the vehicle carriage, on which pivots links are furthermore secured which serve as pivotal bearings for a support carrying the driving means for the friction rollers.

The accompanying drawings illustrate by way of example two embodiments of my improved arrangement. In said drawings,

FIG. 1 is a side view in section of a suspended railway track with its carriage in accordance with the first embodiment,

FIG. 2 shows the same carriage in end elevational view, partly in section, and with rollers 13 omitted to make the view clearer,

FIG. 3 is a top plan View of the arrangement shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a section of the track at a point connecting a horizontal section such as that illustrated in FIG. 1 with a further section rising vertically,

\ FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a curved section of the suspended railway track in accordance with a second 3,056,359 Patented Oct. 2, 1962 the embodiment, certain parts of the vehicle being cut out for sake of clarity of the drawing,

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view, on a larger scale of the carriage or vehicle with certain parts omitted for clarity; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-section taken on line VIIVII of FIG. 6.

The suspended railway track according to FIGS. 1 to 4 includes a guiding rail 10 which has advantageous- 1y a U-shaped cross-section while the lower surface of its Web carries in the planes of the two flanges 10a projecting heads 1%. On the outer surfaces of said web is provided furthermore, in the medial vertical section of the U-shaped rail 10, a longitudinal web 11 extending away from the rail web. Along the flanges and beads of the U-shaped rail 1%, there is guided by means of pairs of associated upper and lower rollers 12 and 13, a carriage designated as a whole by the reference number 14. The spindles carrying corresponding upper and lower rollers 12 and 13 are interconnected by links 150. On the spindles of the lower rollers 13 is suspended a support 15 in the shape of a rectangular plate, said support including for this purpose upwardly directed lugs 15a at the ends of its two longitudinal edges. Instead of suspending the support from the spindles of the rollers 13, it is possible to secure it to the links by pivotal connections. Along said longitudinal edges of said support 15 are also provided downwardly directed flanges 15b to which the carrier lugs 16 of a load carrier are pivotally secured. To the support 15 are secured symmetrically, with reference to the medial plane of the U-shaped rail 10, carrier members 18 adapted to rock on the two pivots 17 lying in a common transverse plane, each carrier member forming a bearing for an electric motor 19 and being provided with a vertical shaft operatively connected through a speed reducer 19a with a gearing 20 of which the last gear in the direction of transmission is provided with an upwardly extending spindle on which there are fitted at a small distance from each other two friction rollers, to wit, a lower larger friction roller 22 and an upper friction roller 23 of a smaller diameter, which latter may be considered as an auxiliary roller. The two friction rollers 22 forming part of the driving means lying on either side of the guiding rail 10 are urged in opposite directions towards the longitudinal web 11. The ends of the carrier members 18 remote from the pivots 17 are subjected to the action of compression springs 25 arranged at both ends of a bolt 24 connecting said carrier members. Thus, upon energization of the motors 19, the forward movement of the carriage 14 is obtained through the frictional connection between the friction rollers 22 on the one hand and the longitudinal web 11 on the other hand.

On some sections of the guiding rail, for instance on horizontal sections thereof over which the progression of the carriage is to be slowed down, or on sloping sections, there are provided on either side of the longitudinal web 11, laterally projecting auxiliary flanges 11a adapted to be engaged by the auxiliary friction rollers 23 (see FIG. 3). Thus the frictional connection of the large diameter rollers 22 is cut out at reduced speed while the carriage is subjected to a consequently larger driving torque.

When the smaller friction rollers 23 and the compres sion springs producing the pressure acting on said frictional rollers are given the proper size, it is possible to make the carriage 14 progress even along vertically rising sections of the guiding rail while the different parts of the carriage assume, upon starting onto said vertical section and moving along said vertical section, the position illustrated in FIG. 4. The radial shifting on the curve at said entrance into the vertical section is ascribable to the particular guiding of the carriage by means of the upper and lower rollers the spindles of which are interconnected by the connecting links 150.

It is also possible, if desired, to provide only one of the two friction roller pairs with driving means. The other pair of rollers which is non-driven would then only play the part of a pair of guide rollers.

FIG. 5 shows a curved guiding rail 30 carrying a vehicle designed in accordance with the second embodiment of the invention. Said vehicle is constituted by a framelike support 31 including two longitudinal halves each of which is bent outwardly at its middle. To the outer ends 31' of said framelike support 31 which are each in the shape of a U, there are secured V-shaped downwardly and outwardly extending members 32 (FIG. 7), the lower ends of each of which carry a suspension eye 32 adapted to engage the load-carrier serving for the conveyance of goods. The vehicle is provided with driving means including friction rollers similar to the means disclosed with reference to the first example. These driving means include also two associated driving systems each constituted by an electric motor 33 driving a pair of friction rollers 22 and 23 which are shown in dotted lines in FIG. 6. For further details, relating to the gearing transmitting the drive of the motor 33 to the pair of driving rollers and to the cooperation of the latter with the longitudinal web 30" of the guiding rail 30, it is sufficient to refer back to the disclosure given hereinabove and relating to the first embodiment.

The vehicle is provided again with upper and lower running rollers 34 and 35 the pivots of which are interconnected by links 36. These running rollers are connected to bent rocking arms 37 the upper ends of which carry the pivots for the lower rollers 35. These rocking arms 37 are provided at their lower ends with pivots 37' extending through two cross-members 31' forming part of the vehicle framelike support 31. On the lower projecting ends of these pivots 37' which lie in vertical registry with the axes of the rollers 34 and 35 are mounted links 38, the links corresponding to each cross member 31' being directed towards each other, said links carrying a common H-shaped support 39 for the two driving systems. Said support 39 carries at the ends of each of its two lateral sections, a pivot 38 adapted to pivotally connect on the one hand a link 38 and on the other hand a pivotal plate 40 on which the driving systems are mounted on said support 39.

From the above disclosure, it is clear that between the common support 39 guided along parallel lines transversely with reference to the guiding rail 30 by the two pairs of links 38 and the rocking arms 37 associated with the rollers 34 and 35, there is ensured a driving connection which, when the driving systems and therewith the support 39 engage a curve in the suspended railway track as shown in FIG. 5 and are subjected to the required transverse shifting, make sure that the transverse shifting is transmitted through the links 38 and the rocking arms 37 to the rollers 34 and 35 in a manner such that the latter arev automatically positioned in a direction tangential to the curve of the guiding rail 30 so as to produce a perfectly accurate radial shifting of the vehicle on the curve.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a suspended railway track, constituted by a U-shaped guiding rail including longitudinal flanges, a transverse web interconnecting the latter and a longitudinal web extending in a plane parallel with the flanges, starting from the medial line of the transverse web in a direction opposed to the direction of said longitudinal flanges, of a carriage comprising a support, running rollers carrying said support and engageable over the rail flanges, parallel pivots carried by said support'and arranged in planes parallel with the longitudinal web on at least one line transverse with reference to the plane of the longitudinal web of the rail and to either side of the latter, carrier members rockably mounted on said pivots, at least one pair of friction rollers revolvable on axes parallel with those of the pivots and adapted to frictionally engage corresponding sides of the longitudinal web, driving means for at least one friction roller of each pair, means carried by each carrier member and carrying the corresponding friction rollers and driving means, and elastic means urging the carrier members and thereby the friction rollers against the corresponding sides of the longitudinal web.

2. The combination with a suspended railway track, constituted by a U-shaped guiding rail including longitudinal flanges, a transverse Web interconnecting the latter and a longitudinal web extending in a plane parallel with the flanges starting from the medial line of the transverse Web in a direction opposed to the direction of said longitudinal flanges of a carriage comprising a support, running rollers carrying said support and engageable over the rail flanges, parallel pivots carried by said support and arranged in planes parallel the longitudinal web on at least one line transverse with reference to the plane of the longitudinal web of the rail and to either side of the latter, carrier members rockably mounted on said pivots, at least one pair of friction rollers carried by each carrier member rotatable on axes parallel with those of the pivots and adapted to frictionally engage corresponding sides of the longitudinal web, driving means for each friction roller of each pair, carried by the same carrier member as the latter and elastic means urging the carrier members and thereby the friction rollers against the corresponding sides of the longitudinal Web.

3. The combination with a suspended railway track, constituted by a U-shaped guiding rail including longitudinal flanges, a transverse web interconnecting the latter and a longitudinal web extending in a plane parallel with the flanges starting from the medial line of the transverse web in a direction opposed to the direction of said longitudinal flanges and along predetermined sections of the rail, auxiliary flanges projecting laterally and to either side of the longitudinal web, of a carriage comprising a support, running rollers carrying said support and engageable over the rail flanges, parallel pivots carried by said support and arranged in planes parallel with the longitudinal web on at least one line transverse with reference to the plane of the longitudinal web of the rail and to either side of the latter, carrier members rockably mounted on said pivots, at least one pair of friction rollers revolvable on axes parallel with those of the pivots and adapted to frictionally engage corresponding sides of the longitudinal web, further friction rollers coaxial with and of a smaller diameter than each of last-mentioned friction rollers and adapted to frictionally engage the corresponding auxiliary flanges when registering with one of said predetermined sections of the rail, means whereby the carrier members carry the friction rollers on the corresponding side of the longitudinal web and driving means carried by at least one of the carrier members for the friction rollers carried by the latter and elastic means urging the carrier members and thereby the friction rollers against the corresponding sides of the longitudinal web.

4. The combination with a suspended railway track, constituted by a U-shaped guiding rail including longitudinal flanges, a transverse web interconnecting the latter, extensions of the flanges extending in the plane of the latter beyond the transverse web and a longitudinal web extending in a plane parallel with the flanges, starting from the medial line of the transverse web in a direction opposed to the direction of said longitudinal flanges, of a carriage comprising a support, upper and lower running rollers carrying said support and engage able over the rail flanges and the extensions thereof respectively, parallel pivots carried by said support and arranged in planes parallel with the longitudinal web on at least one line transverse with reference to the plane of the longitudinal web of the rail and to either side of the latter, carrier members rockably mounted on said pivots, at least one pair of friction rollers revolvable on axes parallel with those of the pivots and adapted to frictionally engage corresponding sides of the longitudinal web, driving means for at least one friction roller of each pair, means carried by each carrier member and carrying the corresponding friction rollers and diving means, and elastic means urging the carrier members and thereby the friction rollers against the corresponding sides of the longitudinal web.

5. The combination with a suspended railway track, constituted by a U-shaped guiding rail including longitudinal flanges, a transverse web interconnecting the latter, extensions of the flanges extending in the plane of the latter beyond the transverse web and a longitudinal web extending in a plane parallel with the flanges, starting from the medial line of the transverse web in a direction opposed to the direction of said longitudinal flanges, of a carriage comprising a support, upper and lower running rollers carrying said support and engageable over the rail flanges and the extensions thereof respectively, links interconnecting corresponding upper and lower running rollers, rocking arms pivotally secured to the system of upper and lower rollers and links, and adapted to rock in planes parallel with the longitudinal web, parallel pivots rigid with the lower ends of the rocking arms, carried by said support and arranged in planes parallel with the longitudinal web on two lines transverse with reference to the plane of the longitudinal web of the rail and to either side of the latter, carrier members rockably mounted on said pivots, two pairs of friction rollers revolvable on axes parallel with those of the pivots and adapted to frictionally engage corresponding sides of the longitudinal web, driving means for at least one friction roller of each pair, means carried by each carrier member and carrying the corresponding friction rollers and driving means, and elastic means urging the carrier members and thereby the friction rollers against the corresponding sides of the longitudinal Web.

6. The combination with a suspended railway track, constituted by a U-shaped guiding rail including longitudinal flanges, a transverse web interconnecting the latter, extensions of the flanges extending in the plane of the latter beyond the transverse web and a longitudinal web extending in a plane parallel with the flanges, starting from the medial line of the transverse web in a direction opposed to the direction of said longitudinal flanges, of a carriage comprising a support, upper and lower running rollers carrying said support and engageable over the rail flanges and the extensions thereof respectively, parallel pivots carried by said support, arranged in vertical registry with the axis of the corresponding running rollers in planes parallel with the longitudinal web on two lines transverse with reference to the plane of the longitudinal web of the rail and to either side of the latter, said pivots being rigid with the lower ends of the rocking arms, carrier members rockably mounted on said pivots, two pairs of friction rollers revolvable on axes parallel with those of the pivots and adapted to frictionaily engage corresponding sides of the longitudinal web, driving means for at least one friction roller of each pair, means carried by each carrier member and carrying the corresponding friction rollers and driving means, and elastic means urging the carrier members and thereby the friction rollers against the corresponding sides of the longitudinal web.

7. The combination with a suspended railway track, constituted by a U-shaped guiding rail including longitudinal flanges, a transverse web interconnecting the latter, extensions of the flanges extending in the plane of the latter beyond the transverse web and a longitudinal web extending in a plane parallel with the flange, starting from the medial line of the transverse web in a direction opposed to the direction of said longitudinal flanges, of a carriage comprising a support, upper and lower running rollers carrying said support and engageable over the rail flanges and the extensions thereof respectively, links interconnecting corresponding upper and lower running rollers, rocking arms pivotally secured to the system of upper and lower rollers and links, and adapted to rock in planes parallel with the longitudinal web, parallel pivots rigid with the lower ends of the rocking arms, carried by said support and arranged in planes parallel with the longitudinal web on two lines transverse with reference to the plane of the longitudinal web of the rail and to either side of the latter, carrier members rockably mounted on said pivots, two pairs of friction rollers revolvable on axes parallel with those of the pivots and adapted to frictionally engage corresponding sides of the longitudinal web, driving means for at least one friction roller of each pair, a plate carrying the friction rollers and corresponding driving means on each side of the location of the longitudinal web, a common support for both said plates pivotally connected with the free ends of said carrier members, and elastic means urging the carrier members and thereby the friction rollers against the corresponding sides of the longitudinal web.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,537,866 Tahner Ian. 9, 1951 2,913,997 Wolf Nov. 24, 1959 2,976,818 Bingham Mar. 28, 1961 

